Wow! I am so shocked that I already got 100+ views and my goal is reached!

Please check out my other stories as well.

Keep in mind that I have to update three stories at a time, and updates will come, but not very often.

So this is not a normal 'initiation story'.

Yes, Beatrice WILL have a love interest. :D

BUT THATS JUST MY BUSINESS.

Goal: 16 favs, 16 follows, and 20+ reviews!

Please review, follow, favorite, and check out my other stories!

Chapter II. The Choosing Ceremony

BEATRICE

I lay on my bed as my mind swirls around in thoughts. I am snapped out of my trance when I hear knocks. I open the door to find a worried Caleb.

"Beatrice? Are you okay? I didn't see you after the tests."

"Oh no, I'm fine. I took the test, it's just that…" I quickly search my mind for the excuse Tori told me to use. "I got sick from the serum. And I went home early."

Caleb looks like he doesn't seem to believe me, but he says, "Okay. Nice to know you're okay. Come help me make dinner." I nod, and we walk to the kitchen. I cook the chicken as he cuts the carrots.

My parents walk in.

"How was work, father and mother?" I say politely.

"Work was fine. Let's eat dinner." My father replies, with his voice slightly tensed. I sigh, as the Erudite have been giving our faction a hard time with the government, and it doesn't help that my father is a government official.

Caleb and I set up the plates, and we all gather around the table. We say our blessings, and eat, passing the food from left to right.

"How was tests, kids?" Father asks us.

"Fine." Caleb and I reply simultaneously.

Caleb couldn't be Divergent.

Could he?

I shake my head mentally.

"I heard one of the students got sick from the serum and was sent home early." Mother speaks. This alarms me, and just when Caleb is about to open his mouth, he sees my reaction and thinks otherwise, staying silent. I mouth "Thanks", to him. He mouths, "No problem".

-o0o-

My parents clean up after dinner. They don't even let Caleb help them, because we're supposed to keep ourselves tonight instead of gathering in the family room, so we can think about our results.

I think about talking to Caleb or my parents; letting them help me choose, if I could even talk about my results. But I can't. Tori's warning whispers in my memory every time my mouth is about to open.

Caleb and I climb the stairs and, at the top, he stops me when I am about to walk into my bedroom.

"Beatrice," he says, looking sternly into my eyes and places a hand on my shoulder. "We must think of our family," There is an edge to his voice. He looks into my eyes. "But. But we must also think of ourselves."

I stare at him. I have never seen him think of himself. Never insist on anything but selflessness.

I am so shocked by his comment. "T-The tests don't have to change our choices."

He smiles a little, and I look into his emerald green eyes. "Don't they, though?"

He squeezes my shoulder and walks into his bedroom.

I walk into my room, closing the door on the way out.

I sit on my bed, curled in a ball and looking at my toes.

I think over my options.

Dauntless.

Erudite.

Abnegation.

I am Divergent.

I have three factions to choose from.

Divergence is dangerous.

I think of the thrilling feeling that bursts into my chest every time I see the Dauntless whoop and cheer as they jump off of trains and scale buildings.

I think of the way books help me escape reality, and how I love having new knowledge put into my brain.

But I also think of the way my heart pounds when I put a smile on a factionless person's face when I give them food, and when a little child is given help.

I am so confused.

I don't know what to think.

I don't know what to choose.

And I don't even know who I am.

Dauntless?

Erudite?

Or Abnegation?

I shake my head.

No.

I'm Divergent.

-o0o-

The bus we take to the Choosing Ceremony is full of gray-clad Abnegation.

I cough at the foul smell of the cigarettes being smoked by the group of Candor teens. I follow my parents out of the bus. Caleb seems calm, but so would I, if I even know what to choose. My heart pounds harder by the second and I grab his arm to steady myself as we walk up the front steps. When we reach the elevator bank, we find that it is crowded, so my father volunteers to give a cluster of yellow and red our spot.

The Amity take the elevator while we climb the stair instead, following our selfless father with no questions.

After climbing twenty flights of stairs, my feet are too sore to be felt. I breathe heavily and my father holds the door open on the twentieth floor and stands like a sentry, as every Abnegation walks past him. I try to wait for him, but the crowd of gray presses me forward.

The room is arranged in concentric circles. The sixteen-year-olds of every faction and color stand on the edges. We are not called members. We will be initiates, no matter what faction we choose.

We arrange ourselves in alphabetical order, by last names. I stand between Caleb and a girl with rosy cheeks and a yellow dress, Danielle Pohler. Rows of chairs for our families make up the next circle up. Five sections, five factions. Not everyone in each faction comes to the Choosing Ceremony, but enough members come that the crowd looks huge.

In the middle of the room are five metal bowls that are painted white. One for each faction.

On each bowl has each faction's symbol. And each bowl contains the special substance that represents each faction.

Gray stones for Abnegation, the symbol is a hand helping up another.

Water for Erudite.

Earth for Amity, which is really soil.

Lit fiery coals for Dauntless.

And glass shards for Candor.

Only five factions, but the decision is tough.

When Marcus, the Abnegation leader, calls my name, I will walk up to the center with confidence—if I even can—with silence, and with a decision in mind. I will cut my hand and sprinkle my blood into the bowl of the faction I choose.

My blood on the stones. My blood on the coals. Or my blood in the water.

Before my parents sit down, they stand in front of Caleb and me. My father kisses my forehead and claps Caleb on the shoulder, grinning.

"See you seen," he says, without a trace of a doubt.

My mother hugs me, and the guilt floods in. I clench my jaw and keep my eyes at the gray ceiling.

Before she pulls away, she turns her head and whispers in my ear, "I love you. No matter what."

I frown at her back as she walks away. Her words make me feel better, but not so much.

I look up at Caleb. Our eyes meet, and my lips turn upward the slightest bit, then fall back down. He grabs my hand, squeezing my palm so tightly it hurts, but I don't let go. The last time we held hands was at my uncle's funeral, as my father cried. We need each other's strength now, just as we did then.

Jeanine stands up and tells everyone to be quiet. She stands on the center stage and announces each faction's manifesto.

I don't pay attention to the Candor and Amity manifestos, but I do to the factions I have aptitude for. I look down at the Erudite manifesto.

We submit the following statements as truth:

"Ignorance" is defined not as stupidity but as lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge inevitable leads to disconnect among people with differences. Lack of understanding leads to a disconnect among people with differences.

Disconnection among people with differences leads to conflict. Knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict. Therefore, we propose that in order to eliminate conflict, we must eliminate the disconnect among those with differences by correcting the lack of understanding that arises from ignorance with knowledge.

The areas in which people must be educated are:

1. Sociology

So that the individual understands how society at large functions.

2. Psychology

So that the individual understands how a person functions within the society.

3. Mathematics

So that the individual is prepared for further study in science, engineering, medicine, and technology.

4. Science

So that the individual better understands how the world operates. So that the individual's study in other areas is supplemented. So that as many individuals as possible area prepared to enter the fields devoted to innovation and progress

5. Communication

So that the individual knows how to speak and write clearly and effectively.

6. History

So that the individual understands the mistakes and successes that have led us to this point. So that the individual learns to emulate those successes and avoid those mistakes.

Leaders must not be chosen base on charisma, popularity, or ease of communication, all of which are misleading and have little to do with the efficiency of a political leader. An objective standard must be used in order to determine who is best fit to lead.

That standard will be an intelligence test, administered to all adults when the present leader reaches fifty-five or begins to decline is function in a demonstrable way. Those who, after rigorous studying, do not meet a minimum intelligence requirement will be exiled from the faction so they can be made useful.

This is not an act of elitism but rather one of practicality: Those who are not intelligent enough to engage in the roles assigned to us— roles that require a considerable mental capacity—are better suited to menial work than to faction work. Menial work is required for the survival of society, and is therefore just as important as faction work. Information must always be made available to all faction members at all times.

The withholding of information is punishable by reprimand, imprisonment, and, eventually, exile. Every question that can be answered must be answered or at least engaged. Illogical thought processes must be challenged when they arise. Wrong answers must be corrected. Correct answers must be affirmed. If an answer to a question is unclear, it must be put to debate. All debates require evidence.

Any controversial thought or idea must be supplemented by evidence in order to reduce the potential for conflict. Intelligence must be used for the benefit, and not to the detriment, of society.

Those who use intelligence for their own personal gain or to the detriment of others have not properly borne the responsibility of their gift, and are not welcome in our faction. It bears repeating: Intelligence is a gift, not a right. It must not be wielded not as a weapon but as a tool for the betterment of others.

The Erudite nod in agreement. Caleb looks down at me, and I frown.

Then Jeanine reads the shortest manifesto with a small scowl. It makes sense, Erudite is Abnegation's biggest rival, and vice versa.

I will be my undoing If I become my obsession.

I will forget the ones I love If I do not serve them.

I will war with others If I refuse to see them.

Therefore I choose to turn away From my reflection, To rely not on myself But on my brothers and sisters, To project always outward Until I disappear.

Some members add a final line: And only God remains. That is at the discretion of each member, and is not compulsory.

My heart pumps at the Dauntless manifesto.

We believe that cowardice is to blame for the world's injustices.

We believe that peace is hard-won, that sometimes it is necessary to fight for peace. But more than that: We believe that justice is more important than peace.

We believe in freedom from fear, in denying fear the power to influence our decisions. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.

We believe in acknowledging fear and the extent to which it rules us. We believe in facing that fear no matter what the cost to our comfort, our happiness, or even our sanity.

We believe in shouting for those who can only whisper, in defending those who cannot defend themselves.

We believe, not just in bold words but in bold deeds to match them. We believe that pain and death are better than cowardice and inaction because we believe in action.

We do not believe in living comfortable lives. We do not believe that silence is useful.

We do not believe in good manners.

We do not believe in empty heads, empty mouths, or empty hands.

We do not believe that learning to master violence encourages unnecessary violence.

We do not believe that we should be allowed to stand idly by. We do not believe that any other virtue is more important than bravery.

A Dauntless whoops, and the rest of them laugh, beginning to cheer and shout.

I smile inwardly.

Then Marcus stands up on the stage, and Jeanine stands off to the side.

He stands at the podium between the Erudite and the Dauntless and clears his throat into the microphone. "Welcome," he says. "Welcome to the Choosing Ceremony. Welcome to the day we honor the democratic philosophy of our ancestors, which tells us that every man has the right to choose his own way in this world."

I tune out the rest of his speech, and focus my sight on the floor instead.

I listen in on the final paragraph, though. "Therefore this day marks a happy occasion—the day on which we receive out new initiates, who will work with us toward a better society and a better world."

A round of applause. The so-called "hellions" of Dauntless cheer. One by one, each sixteen-year-old steps out of line and walks to the middle of the rom. The first girl to choose decides on Amity, the same faction from which she came from. I watch as her blood droplets fall on soil, and she stands behind their seats alone.

I tune out, thinking about my choices. I hear nothing but the distant sound of Marcus yelling, "Dauntless!" Or, "Erudite!"

-o0o-

A Dauntless boy named James Tucker, who is the first of Dauntless to choose, chooses Candor. He is the first of us to switch factions. I stare at the floor as the Dauntless mutters. They will see him as a traitor from now on.

I frown.

"Caleb Prior," says Marcus.

I look into his comforting emerald-green eyes and he gives me a small smile. He squeezes my hand one last time, and as he walks away, casts a long look at me over his shoulder. I nod.

He gives me a nod back, and I watch his feet move to the center of the room. He takes the knife from Marcus, and slides the knife down his palm. He stands with blood pooling in his palm, and his lips snag on his teeth. He breathes out. And then in.

He holds his hand over the Erudite bowl, and his blood drips into the water, turning it a deeper shade of red. I hear mutters that lift into outraged cries.

I can barely think straight. My brother, my selfless brother who has always been born for Abnegation, Erudite?

I shake my head. I was expecting it. When I close my eyes, I see the stack on books on Caleb's desk, and his shaking hands sliding along his legs after the aptitude test. And the days we spent reading our hidden books together.

I look at the Erudite. They wear self-dignified smirks and some appear to be laughing cruelly. The Abnegation, normally so placid, speak to one another in tense whispers and glare daggers across the room at the faction that has become our enemy.

"Excuse me," says Marcus, shock still visible on his face. The crowd doesn't hear him. "Quiet, please!"

The room goes silent. Except for a ringing sound. I hear my name and a shudder propels me forward. Halfway to the bowls. I am sure that I will choose Abnegation. I can see it now. I watch myself grow into a woman in gray Abnegation robes, marrying Susan's brother, Robert, volunteering on weekends, the certainty of my divergence being kept a secret, and that I will be safe, and if not good enough, better than I am now.

The ringing, I realize, is in my ears.

I look at Caleb, who now stands with the Erudite. He stares back at me, his green eyes intense, and nods a little, like he knows what I'm thinking, and agrees. My footsteps falter. If Caleb wasn't fit for Abnegation, how can I be? I'm not as selfless as him. I can never be.

But what choice do I have? Now that he left us and I'm the only one who remains?

I set my jaw. I will be the child that stays; I have to do this for my parents. I have to.

But then I think of the motto I read in my Faction History textbook: Faction before blood. More than family, our factions are where we belong. Can that possibly be right?

Marcus offers me my knife. I look into his eyes, a dark blue. I take the knife. He nods, and I turn towards the bowls. Dauntless coals, Abnegation stones, and Erudite water are in front of me. Stones to the right, coals to the left, and water in the middle. I pay no attention to the soil on my farthest right and the glass shards on the farthest left.

Dauntless, Erudite, or Abnegation?

I need to decide.

I hold the knife in my right hand and touch the blade to my palm. Gritting my teeth, I drag the blade down. It stings, but I barely notice. I look down at my palms, and my eyes drift over to the three bowls in front of me.

I open my eyes, and thrust my arm out. My blood drips onto the carpet between all three bowls. I shift my hand forward, and I hear the drip of my blood becoming one with the murky red water.

I cannot be Abnegation. I am not selfless enough.

I cannot be Dauntless. Maybe I could have, if I chose differently, but I can't. Not anymore.

I am Erudite. I am selfish. I love knowledge. I am intelligent.

But I can't take it back.

And I can't help myself.

So Beatrice has chosen Erudite! But don't stop reading, if you want to understand what will happen, read the summary!

Grey. Blue. Black. Stones. Water. Coals. Abnegation. Erudite. Dauntless. That is what Beatrice Prior has to decide. At the last moment, what she didn't know, was that one choice can transform you. And by choosing differently, she definitely was transformed. Into Tris Collins: Dauntless initiate, and Erudite spy. Includes a war, but very different compared to the Divergent trilogy.

*HINT HINT*!

So Goal: 16 favs, 16 followers, and 20+ reviews!

Please review, follow, favorite, and check out my other stories!

~TrissyPoo